The Middle Eastern region known as Palestine was the ancient home of the Jewish people. It became part of the Islamic world in the ad 600s. From 1923 to 1948 the British ruled the region. During this time, many Jewish immigrants from Europe settled there. Arabs also lived in Palestine, and both groups wanted to control the land.

When Britain gave up Palestine, the United Nations (UN) divided the land. Each group got the same amount, but the Arabs were unhappy because the Jews were given some land that was owned by Arab Palestinians.

On May 14, 1948, as soon as Israel came into existence, Arab Palestinians and neighboring Arab countries declared war on Israel. Arab forces occupied parts of Palestine, but by the time the war ended Israel ended up with more land than it had before the war.

In 1949 Israel and the Arab states signed border agreements. There was no peace treaty, however. The many Palestinians who had left their homes ended up in refugee camps in Arab countries.

In the spring of 1967, fighting between Syria and Israel led to the Six-Day War. Israel saw that Egypt was preparing for war in order to aid Syria. On June 5 Israel struck quickly and wiped out nearly the whole Egyptian air force on the ground. In six days’ time Israel seized the Old City of Jerusalem, the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the Jordanian territory west of the Jordan River (known as the West Bank), and the Golan Heights, on the Israeli-Syrian border.

On October 6, 1973, on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, Egypt and Syria both attacked Israel. In the Yom Kippur War, Israel pushed both armies back into their own territory but in turn suffered heavy losses. After fighting ceased early in 1974, the UN established neutral zones between those countries and Israel.

On March 26, 1979, Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty. Tensions continued, however, between Israel and other Arab communities. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) attacked Israel from camps in Lebanon in 1982. On June 5, 1982, Israel invaded the country. The PLO eventually left, but some Israeli troops remained in the country until 2000.

In the late 1970s Israelis began to build settlements on the land that it occupied on the Gaza Strip and West Bank. In 1987 the growth of these settlements caused Palestinians to protest. Demonstrations and riots—known as the intifada (uprising)—broke out and continued until the early 1990s. In 1993 Israel agreed to start turning over control of some of the occupied territories to the Palestinians. In 2000, however, a new intifada erupted. It stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

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